Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly will embark on a limited engagement 'history tour' this fall in which the former president wil...
Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly will embark on a limited engagement 'history tour' this fall in which the former president will be asked questions by the ex-Fox News star about his four years in the White House.
The four-date tour, which Trump has vowed will be 'fun, fun, fun' for those who attend, is scheduled for December.
The events will take place in 18,000-seat arenas in Florida and Texas that are normally reserved for professional sporting events and concerts.
'From January 2017 to January 2021, the 45th President of the United States presided over an especially intense period for the United States of America,' O'Reilly said in a statement posted on his website.
'From the pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands, to the speedy development of the vaccine, to the rise of the economy, to the global challenge from China, Donald Trump was the dominant decision-maker and the most powerful person in the world.'
Donald Trump and Bill O'Reilly will embark on a limited engagement 'history tour' in which the former president will be asked questions by the ex-Fox News star about his four years in the White House
'In a series of live conversations across the country, Mr. Trump and Historian/Journalist Bill O'Reilly will discuss exactly how things were accomplished, as well as challenges, both good and bad!' the statement reads.
O'Reilly, 71, wrote that during the planned 'history tour' the former president 'will provide a never before heard inside view of his administration - which will be historical in and of itself.'
O'Reilly quoted the former president as saying: 'These will be wonderful but hard-hitting sessions where we'll talk about the real problems happening in the US, those that the Fake News Media never mention.'
'I will be focusing on greatness for our Country, something seldom discussed in political dialogue,' Trump is quoted as saying. 'If we don't make our Country great again, we will soon no longer have a Country!'
In an apparent dig at President Joe Biden, O'Reilly said that the 'conversations with the 45th president will not be boring.'
As of Tuesday, three dates were scheduled with a fourth still to be determined.
The first event will take place on December 11 at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The 25,000-seat arena is home to the NHL's Florida Panthers and also hosts concerts and exhibitions.
The second event has been scheduled for December 12, though a location has yet to be chosen.
On December 18, O'Reilly and Trump are scheduled to appear at the Toyota Center in Houston.
The next day, another event is set to take place at the Dallas-American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Tickets for the events go on sale through Ticketmaster on Monday at 10am Eastern Time.
'After Biden's inauguration, the idea rummaged around in my head two months,' O'Reilly told Page Six.
Trump and O'Reilly are seen above attending a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in July 2012. O'Reilly told Page Six that he and Trump agreed to do the tour during a conversation at Mar-a-Lago last month
'I flew to Mar-a-Lago April 4. I know the man 30 years. He asked how we do this,' he said.
'I said, ''No pandering. No politics. It's your handling of China, Putin, the economy, ISIS, getting the vaccine. I've done the research. The key is it's all history and people don't even know how or what.
'''I'll ask the questions. We'll record it. Two hours 15 minutes. Hockey and basketball arenas that seat 18,000. My own production company books it''.'
O'Reilly said that the goal of the tour is to inform the public about 'what actually happened.'
'Frustrated millions never got actual reports from anyone,' the former Fox News host said. 'They only heard haters. It's what he did and why — and what he didn't do.'
O'Reilly added: 'Look, he wants to make history? It's this. No president besides Lincoln experienced this much hate.
'It's not being flamboyant. It's tell the people what you did and why. Tell us your four years. Get your version on record.
'Show us how it works. Anyone who loves their country champions free speech.'
O'Reilly said the events will include a '45-minute Q-&-A oral history' in which the questions will be taken from the audience. That session would then be followed by an intermission.
'People can have a cocktail,' he said. 'Some may even need it.'
O'Reilly said that he didn't need to work hard to sell Trump on the ideal.
'Interested in the concept, he trusted me,' he told Page Six.
'He's a businessman. He saw it right away.'
Despite his loss to Biden in November, Trump remains the dominant figure in Republican Party politics. He is also considered a virtual lock to win the GOP nomination in 2024 should he decide to make another run for the White House.
Trump on Saturday sharply attacked US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, demanded reparations from China and denounced an investigation into his finances in a speech in North Carolina.
Despite his loss to Biden in November, Trump remains the dominant figure in Republican Party politics. He is also considered a virtual lock to win the GOP nomination in 2024 should he decide to make another run for the White House. Trump is seen above in Greenville, North Carolina on Saturday
Speaking in Greenville, North Carolina, at the state's Republican Party convention, Trump joined a chorus of Republican politicians who are criticizing Fauci for asking Americans to wear masks to guard against the virus and who at times has been skeptical of a theory that the virus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
Trump called Fauci 'not a great doctor but a great promoter' for his frequent television appearances.
'But he's been wrong on almost every issue and he was wrong on Wuhan and the lab also,' Trump said.
The origin of the virus remains hotly contested and remains under study by US intelligence agencies.
Trump's own handling of the pandemic, in which nearly 600,000 people in the United States have died and he himself was infected, was a factor in his loss to Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2020 election.
Trump called on China to pay $10 trillion in reparations to the United States and the world for its own handling of the virus, and he said nations should cancel their debt to Beijing.
Trump's appearance had all the hallmarks of his signature campaign rallies complete with a musical playlist heavy on Elton John standards.
O'Reilly added: 'Who knows? Maybe I even sing a few songs.'
For more than 20 years, O'Reilly was one of Fox News Channel's highest-rated anchors, hosting a nightly primetime show called 'The O'Reilly Factor.'
In April 2017, The New York Times reported that five women who alleged inappropriate workplace misconduct by O'Reilly were paid a total of $13million in settlements.
Days later, Fox News officially cut ties with O'Reilly, who is said to have walked away with a $25million payout from the network.
It was a stunning development considering that The O'Reilly Factor was a critical cash engine for the network, generating some $326million a year in advertising revenue.
Later that year, it was reported that O'Reilly paid $32million to settle sex harassment claims brought by a sixth woman, former legal analyst Lis Wiehl.
O'Reilly was replaced with Tucker Carlson.
Since his departure from the powerhouse cable news channel, O'Reilly formed his own media entity which includes a subscriber-based web site, podcast, and blog. He has also continued writing his series of bestselling books.
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